She is starlight and magic, in silvers and golds,

He is chaos and danger, in darkness and shadow.

It will end, and it will begin,

But nothing is certain.

He will twist and trap her,

Until she is his, and his alone.

She has the power to do the same,

Stronger than even he knows.


The silly string clung to her hair. Even after five washes it wouldn't release its clinging hold. She managed it into a sopping wet ponytail, then ran to Wendy for help. Wendy smiled and giggled, the girlish sound of a friend. The sound warmed Emilie. She was poked and prodded, and by the end was sure half her hair had been ripped out.

In the hours before the party, they closeted themselves in Emilie's room. Though Wendy had no intention of dressing up, she all but forced Emilie to. "Maybe Will'll thank me," Wendy snarked. Emilie's shoulders tensed and the playful smirk vanished. "Will is coming, right?"

Emilie looked down at her painted, chipped nails. They were a multitude of sparkly shades, courtesy of Mabel. She swallowed several times before the answered was forced out. "I don't know. I didn't ask."

When Wendy was finished and slipped out, bow tie in hand, Emilie peeked at herself in the mirror. Simple makeup, hair held back in an equally simple, fancy braid. Suddenly, her image cracked and shattered into a thousand pieces and she tasted blood. She fell to the bed with a gasp and immediately jolted upright. The mirror's surface was flawless. Her mouth was a little dry, but all she could taste was popcorn.

Emilie passed Grunkle Stan on her way to the twin's attic. His eyes were careful behind the thick glasses; he heard her nightmares every night, though never said a word. Wordlessly, he drew her into a hug. He didn't smell like murky lake water this time, and Emilie buried her face in his shoulder.

"Maybe you should skip the party, get some sleep." He tried carefully.

He was new to this, taking care of two kids and a teenager. The last time he'd even been around kids was when he visited after the twin's birth. Now that she knew, Emilie could vaguely recollect his face from the multitude of visitors and well-wishing relatives. She couldn't remember how long he'd stayed. Or if he'd brought toys or food like the others. She just knew he'd been there.

When she managed to climb the rickety stairs, the twins were at it. Well, their version, at least. Dipper had a list longer than Emilie was tall. Mabel looked at him like he was crazy.

Emilie picked up the end of the list at the door. "Step number twenty?" She didn't read what it was. Dipper's face was red enough when she peeked around the paper. "You made a list. For talking to Wendy?"

"Shush!" Dipper rapidly folded it and hid it within his vest.

"See! Even Emmy doesn't agree!" The twins argued back and forth, Emilie settled on Mabel's bed.

The attic wasn't too horrible, though something had to be done about the splinters. Emilie patiently listened to their squabble, fixed Dipper's bow tie when it was crooked, and let Mabel drag her down to the Shack. Dipper went to sell tickets with Wendy, an excited smile on his face. Emilie stood on the landing as Soos read his way through DJ-ing.

Nate and Lee showed up, then clawed at the windows when they didn't have enough for the exit fee. Emilie saw Tambry and Thompson too, but lost them in the crowd. She doubted Tambry even looked away from her phone long enough to care if the party was lame or not. Thompson was only there because the others were. Robbie wasn't there yet, but Emilie knew he'd be there soon. He'd hinted, more heavily than usual, about hooking up with Wendy.

The idea made her sick.

It took longer than she would admit if asked, to notice that there were at least eight of her brother's wandering around. Mabel, entranced by her new friends Candy and Grenda, barely noticed. Emilie watched, half-amused, half-horrified, when she realized what Dipper was doing. Especially when she caught sight of Robbie hanging all over Wendy.

Before she could help, Emilie quickly became involved in Mabel's attempts at becoming party queen. The snooty rich girl - Pacifica Northwest, if Tambry could be trusted - made Emilie want to punch a child. It wouldn't be hard to use magic to sway the crowd in Mabel's favor, but she didn't even need it. The crowd loved her baby sister. So, Emilie watched with Grunkle Stan as, until the very end, Mabel continuously won every contest, trying to forget about Will's absence.

Before the end of the night, she ran into Dipper and... Dipper. "Is there a reason I have two brothers?" There was a mess of watery goo behind them in the hallway.

Dipper's nervous chuckle was music to her frayed nerves. The 'twin' at his side copied him. "I'm Tyrone."

The whole story spilled out, complete with the cloning copier and how they'd stolen Robbie's bike, all to have the perfect night with Wendy. Emilie softened and zipped her lips. They tackled her in a hug and she smiled at the absurdity. The smile turned to a scowl when Pacifica Northwest frightened and bribed the crowd into crowning her the party queen.

"Grunkle Stan," he smiled, equally parts proud and wary, at the dangerous expression she wore. "Is it illegal to set a twelve year old's hair on fire?"

In the end, Mabel's new friends welcomed her with open arms for sticking up for them. Emilie watched them dance with a fond smile that grew wider when Dipper, sans Tyrone, came down from the roof. As Grunkle Stan shut off the lights and herded the twins, plus Grenda and Candy, up to the attic, and as Soos and Wendy left, Emilie drifted to her room. Dipper, unable to take the shrieking girls, bunked down with her that night.

Hours after midnight, a pebble hit Emilie's single window loudly. Awake, she carefully climbed over Dipper to see Will outside, a somber expression on his tan face. It took ten minutes of hissed conversation - pleading on his part - before she yanked on her hoodie and clambered out the window. The dew covered grass tickled her bare feet.

"I'm sorry - I got caught up with something." Will explained underneath the shadow of a tree. He held his phone out to her. When she took it, her eyes ran over the angry multitude of texts from both Wendy and Tambry for standing her up. A hysterical giggle choked her at the sight. His hand was warm when it curled around her fingers. "Come with me."

They slipped deeper into the woods. Dipper's book had a map of the magical side of the forest, somewhere she shied away from. Will led them toward the river, she could hear the faint rush of water. When he finally turned to look at her, his golden eyes were soft in the firefly glow. Hands on her waist, hands on his shoulders and her bare feet on his shoes.

Emilie pressed her ear to his chest, lulled by the faint sound of his heartbeat.


She left Will's apartment in the town square on Pioneer Day and saw Grunkle Stan's car between the circled wagons. Emilie peered inside to see Stan and the twins as Pioneer Day was explained. He eagerly let her take charge of Mabel and Dipper before he wandered off on his own, threatening to disown them if they returned talking like the in-character townsfolk. The twins adapted rather well to the old-timey happenings around them, though even Mabel blanched when a man married a woodpecker.

At the opening ceremony, magic prickled at her fingertips and she felt her hair spark when Pacifica Northwest humiliated Mabel in front of the entire town. Without even looking, she muttered a spell and jerked her chin in the blonde brat's direction, then chased after her baby sister. When Dipper caught up to them on the bench, he was all smiles despite Mabel's sullen expression.

"Did... did you just turn Pacifica's hat back into a racoon?" His eyes bulged from his skull.

"Did I? I'll need to practice more - I though I'd summoned an army of them." Mabel didn't even crack a smile. Emilie frowned, worried now. "Mabel, sweetie, what is it?"

"Do you think I'm silly?"

Dipper stuttered a negative reply, but all Emilie did was hug her. Mabel snuggled into her side before she removed her nacho earrings - Emilie wasn't going to ask - and tied her cat sweater around her waist.

"You are not a joke, Mabel." Emilie swore once Mabel had gotten everything off her chest. Yes, Mabel was silly and could act like a ditz at times, but that didn't make her stupid. Mabel liked to have fun, and she saw good in everyone and everything. "You're just too trusting for your own good."

The conversation quickly switched track, with Mabel settling on her anger at Pacifica. When Dipper produced the journal, Emilie's fingers sparked. She'd read through the pages, found some of them barely legible, others scrawled so messily that there was no hope of learning what they said. But it practically dripped with magic - and she wasn't sure if that was what frightened her more.

Their brother quickly announced the theory that Nathaniel Northwest hadn't been the true founder of Gravity Falls, and Mable grabbed hold of it like a lifeline. Emilie added her agreement with a smile. Anything that helped the twins smile again was worth it.

They raced around the town, first to the library where, despite claiming she was going to be serious, Mabel's silliness won out in the end. While Dipper discussed setting a page from the journal on fire, his twin folded it into a hat.

The folded parchment revealed the next clue.

Despite Dipper's solemn decision that they would have to break in to the museum, they were greeted by a cheery woman in pink colonial garb. Emilie refused the offer of a pink balloon; the twins gladly accepted the unexpected treat. Once again, Mabel's inability to act completely serious worked in their favor, and they headed to the Gravity Falls cemetery next.

It was there they found what they were looking for.


All things considered, Emilie wasn't sure she could consider the day a bust.

Quentin Trembley had been a bit odd, and terrifying, she had to admit. He should have been long dead without the peanut brittle and that made his survival all the more unsettling. Still, she liked the idea of being a Senator. Probably as much as Mabel liked being a Congresswoman. The best part of the day was delivering the Northwest Family cover-up news to Pacifica, whose scream had been music to Emilie's ears.

That night, the twins bunked down with her until they could barely walk. Then she herded them up the rickety stairs, using a spark of energy to get them awake enough to make it to their room. It was getting easier to control, and Emilie was half-afraid that was a bad thing. The dreams had been absent for the last week or so, and she no longer dreaded going to sleep.

Maybe the pressed, golden rose beneath her pillow had something to do with it.